International Conference: "20 years of Habitats Directive: European Wildlife’s Best Hope?"
The international conference will take place in Antwerp (Belgium) on 12-13 December 2012.
The conference is co-organised by the Université Catholique de Louvain (Séminaire de droit de l’urbanisme et de l’environnement (SERES) and Biodiversity Research Centre (BDIV)), Ghent University (Centrum voor Milieu- en Energierecht (CMR) of the Department of Public Law and the Department of Public International Law), Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis (Centre d’Etude du Droit de l’Environnement (CEDRE)), The Flemish Environmental Law Association (VVOR) and ARGUS-het milieupunt van KBC en CERA.
"The Habitats Directive forms the cornerstone of Europe’s nature conservation policy. It is built around two pillars: the Natura 2000 network of protected sites and the strict system of species protection. More than 18% of the surface of the EU is a part of the Natura 2000 network whereas over hundreds of animal and plant species are protected by the provisions of article 12 and 16 of the Habitats Directive. Yet, at its 20th Birthday, there seems little to no reason to cheer. At present only 17% of the protected habitats and species are in a favourable conservation status. According to IUCN Red List, 10 to 60 % of animal species, depending on the monitored groups, are threatened in Europe. This conference aims at assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the Habitats Directive in the light of the European ‘no net loss’ approach. In this respect focus will not only rest on the existing threats to biodiversity (e.g. nitrogen deposit) but also on new challenges, such as climate change and invasive alien species. Is the Habitats Directive robust enough to tackle these new and existing threats or do we need other or better legal instruments?"
Although the conference will mainly be dedicated to legal issues, it will not lose sight of the broader, more multidiscplinary ecological context.
UCL, UGent, FUSL, Observatoire Juridique Natura 2000
Nederlandse Vereniging voor Milieurecht (VMR)
United Kingdom Environmental Law Association (UKELA)
Environmental Law Network International (ELNI)
International conference "Will national climate change legislation cool down global warming?" The conference, taking place on 27th October 2011 in Brussels, is jointly organised by the Flemish and Dutch Environmental Law Associations. It will address climate policies and measures against the background of EU laws, regulations and EC policy communications that determine the contours for domestic actions. Another element is the role of the international carbon market. The second part of the conference deals with the diverse national and regional, even local measures at stake aimed at the mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
The Hamburg International Environmental Law Conference 2011 In recognition of its achievements in environmental protection, the European Commission has nominated the City of Hamburg as the "European Green Capital 2011". As one of the core events during this year, the Hamburg International Environmental Law Conference will assemble lawyers and decision makers from governments, law firms, public administration, universities and NGOs. The conference will provide a high level forum for international dialogue on the strengthening and further development of environmental law.
The International Environmental Law Conference will take place on 15.09.-16.09.2011 at the Bucerius Law School Hamburg.
A High Level of Environmental Protection - PhD Thesis "Le niveau élevé de protection, une exigence susceptible de contrôle - Considérations sur une règle essentielle du droit de l'environnement" Theme: European Environmental Law By: Delphine MISONNE, CEDRE, FUSL Language: French Where and when: on 8 September at 16 pm, Facultés universitaires Saint-Louis, Bld du Jardin Botanique 43, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium. More information: cedre@fusl.ac.be.
Environmental Law and Policy in the European Union: The Legacy of the Treaty of Amsterdam Date: 19th November 2009 Location: Doelenzaal, University of Amsterdam, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam. On the occassion of the inaugural lecture of Professor Marc Pallemaerts on 20 November 2009, the Centre for Environmental Law at the University of Amsterdam organises a conference. Several European Environmental Law and Policy issues will be discussed transdisciplinary by selected european experts. Conference Programme (pdf, 21 KB)
Aarhus and Access to Justice: Does the EC meet the grade? Date: 9th June 2009 Location: At the offices of IEEP, Quai au Foin 55, 1000 Brussels. In 2007, the European Commission published a series of reports examining access to justice in 25 EC Member States. However, these reports focussed on access to national courts and failed to examine whether the European Courts give individual citizens and NGOs access to environmental justice. The aim of the IEEP report commissioned by WWF-UK is to discuss the ECJ's performance against recognised indicators - including standing, costs and remedies - and discuss how improvements to the current system can be made. Download the IEEP Report (PDF/281 KB) at the IEEP Homepage.
The role of information in an age of climate change Date: 13th and 14th November 2008 Location: University of Aarhus, Nordre Ringgade 1, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark An international Conference to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Aarhus Convention. The conference will focus in particular on the role of public access to environmental science-based information and public participation in decision-making on issues related to climate policy as provided under regulatory instruments facilitated by the Aarhus Convention that are crucial to local, regional and global success of the UNFCCC Conference Programme (pdf, 660 KB)
The Judge in Europe & Community environment Law Date: 9th and 10th October 2008 Location: Paris - Centre de conférences internationales, 19 avenue Kléber, 75016 PARIS, France An opportunity for judges and lawyers from the 27 EU Member States to meet and share their experiences. The event will help both to identify key topic areas in which training in environmental law is required and to shore up dialogue between courts Conference Programme (pdf, 340 KB) Presentation "NGO‘s assessment and recommendations as to Directive 2004/35/EC" by Thomas Alge (PDF, 89,5 KB)
The International Workshop on regulatory impact assessment Date: 15th and 17th September 2008 Location: Berlin - Hotel Angleterre, Germany The Workshop focuses on the evaluation of the EC-Guideline on the system of (regulative) impact assessment (RIA) with emphasis on environmental aspects and Germany's approach to an appropriate impact assessment system on national level. The conference report can be downloaded here.
The future of European environmental law Date: 16 May 2008 Location: University of Groningen Here is a PDF with more informations... More: http://www.rug.nl/rechten/faculteit/vakgroepen/bes/eel For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Jan H. Jans by e-mail at j.h.jans@rug.nl
The Aarhus Convention at Ten: Interactions and Tensions between Conventional International Law and EU Environmental Law Date: Wednesday 25 June 2008, 09:30-18:00 For further information, please contact the Centre for Environmental Law by e-mail at milieurecht-fdr@uva.nl
Workshop on Evaluating the Environmental Effectiveness of REACh (REACh:EEE) In context of the German EU-presidency a Workshop with experts from environmental authorities was scheduled for June 25, 2007 in Berlin. It took place in autumn 2007. More ...